Fallen briefcase draws bomb squad

RANCHO PENASQUITOS  A bomb squad was called Thursday morning to a Rancho Peñasquitos residence, where they found that a suspicious-looking briefcase next to a van was harmless, authorities said.

It turned out the case had fallen off the roof of a neighbor’s car as he drove to work, and someone else moved it out of the street, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

About 7 a.m., the Honda van owner spotted a brown briefcase near his vehicle on Paseo Montril, near Rancho Peñasquitos Boulevard. Concerned that it might contain an explosive, he called police. Officers looked at it and requested the Metro Arson Strike Team bomb squad, Luque said.

Police blocked off the street. Officers helped fire personnel check with neighbors to see if anyone knew anything about the case, Luque said.

They learned that an attorney who lives three houses away had put the case on his car roof, then forgot it when he drove away. The case fell off, and a passer-by later found it in the road and placed it next to the van, thinking it might belong to the residents there, Luque said.